There are many conventional approaches to streaming media content, such as television programs, pay-per-view programs, on-demand programs, Internet content, movies, etc. For example, media content can be encoded at multiple bit rates. The encoded media content can then be transmitted using a suitable protocol, such as the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), the Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP), the Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), etc. However, conventional approaches do not provide users with the capabilities to stream, store, and playback media content at variable bitrates.
Accordingly, new mechanisms for streaming media content are desirable.